CAMPING

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

MERIT BADGE SERIES

CAMPING

Enhancing our youths competitive edge through merit badges

 Requirements
1. Do the following:
a. Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you
may encounter while participating in camping activities
and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent,
mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
b. Discuss with your counselor why it is important to be
aware of weather conditions before and during your
camping activities. Tell how you can prepare should the
weather turn bad during your campouts.
c. Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent
injuries or illnesses that could occur while camping,
including hypothermia, frostbite, heat reactions,
dehydration, altitude sickness, insect stings, tick bites,
snakebite, blisters, and hyperventilation.

2. Learn the Leave No Trace principles and the Outdoor Code

and explain what they mean. Write a personal and group
plan for implementing these principles on your next outing.

3. Make a written plan for an overnight trek and show how

to get to your camping spot using a topographical map and
compass OR a topographical map and a GPS receiver. If no
GPS receiver unit is available, explain how to use one to get
to your camping spot.

4. Do the following:
a. Make a duty roster showing how your patrol is organized
for an actual overnight campout. List assignments for
each member.
b. Help a Scout patrol or a Webelos Scout unit in your area
prepare for an actual campout, including creating the
duty roster, menu planning, equipment needs, general
planning, and setting up camp.

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5. Do the following:
a. Prepare a list of clothing you would need for overnight
campouts in both warm and cold weather. Explain the
term layering.
b. Discuss footwear for different kinds of weather and how
the right footwear is important for protecting your feet.
c. Explain the proper care and storage of camping equipment
(clothing, footwear, bedding).

d. List the outdoor essentials necessary for any campout,

and explain why each item is needed.
e. Present yourself to your Scoutmaster with your pack
for inspection. Be correctly clothed and equipped for an
overnight campout.

6. Do the following:
a. Describe the features of four types of tents, when and
where they could be used, and how to care for tents.
Working with another Scout, pitch a tent.
b. Discuss the importance of camp sanitation and tell why
water treatment is essential. Then demonstrate two ways
to treat water.
c. Describe the factors to be considered in deciding where
to pitch your tent.
d. Tell the difference between internal- and external-frame
packs. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

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 e. Discuss the types of sleeping bags and what kind would
be suitable for different conditions. Explain the proper
care of your sleeping bag and how to keep it dry. Make a
comfortable ground bed.

7. Prepare for an overnight campout with your patrol by doing

the following:
a. Make a checklist of personal and patrol gear that will
be needed.
b. Pack your own gear and your share of the patrol equip-
ment and food for proper carrying. Show that your pack
is right for quickly getting what is needed first, and that
it has been assembled properly for comfort, weight, bal-
ance, size, and neatness.

8. Do the following:
a. Explain the safety procedures for
(1) Using a propane or butane/propane stove
(2) Using a liquid fuel stove
(3) Proper storage of extra fuel

b. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different

types of lightweight cooking stoves.
c. Prepare a camp menu. Explain how the menu would
differ from a menu for a backpacking or float trip. Give
recipes and make a food list for your patrol. Plan two
breakfasts, three lunches, and two suppers. Discuss
how to protect your food against bad weather, animals,
and contamination.
d. Cook at least one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner
for your patrol from the meals you have planned for
requirement 8c. At least one of those meals must be a
trail meal requiring the use of a lightweight stove.

9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

a. Camp a total of at least 20 nights at designated Scouting
activities or events. One long-term camping experience of
up to six consecutive nights may be applied toward this
requirement. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent
you have pitched. If the camp provides a tent that has
already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.
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 b. On any of these camping experiences, you must do
TWO of the following, only with proper preparation
and under qualified supervision.
(1) Hike up a mountain where, at some point, you are
at least 1,000 feet higher in elevation from where
you started.
(2) Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for
at least 4 miles.
(3) Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at
least four hours.
(4) Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at
least four hours or 5 miles.
(5) Plan and carry out an overnight snow
camping experience.
(6) Rappel down a rappel route of 30 feet or more.

c. Perform a conservation project approved by the

landowner or land managing agency. This can be done
alone or with others.

10. Discuss how the things you did to earn this badge have
taught you about personal health and safety, survival,
public health, conservation, and good citizenship. In your
discussion, tell how Scout spirit and the Scout Oath and
Scout Law apply to camping and outdoor ethics.

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Camping Resources.
Camping Resources
Scouting Literature
Boy Scout Handbook; Basic Illustrated
Camping; Okpik: Cold-Weather Camping;
Dont Get Sick; Leave No Trace;
Passport to High Adventure; Fieldbook;
Conservation Handbook; Belay On;
Backpacking, Bird Study, Canoeing,
Cooking, Cycling, First Aid, Fishing,
Fly-Fishing, Geocaching, Hiking,
Kayaking, Mammal Study, Nature,
Orienteering, Rowing, Small-Boat
Sailing, Snow Sports, Sustainability,
Whitewater, and Wilderness Survival
merit badge pamphlets
For more information about or to
order Scouting-related resources, see
http://www.scoutstuff.org (with your
parents permission).
Books
Birkby, Robert C. Lightly on the Land:
The SCA Trail Building and
Maintenance Manual, 2nd ed.
Mountaineers Books, 2006.
Brunelle, Lynn. Camp Out! The
Ultimate Kids Guide. Workman
Publishing Company, 2007.
Conners, Christine. The Scouts Outdoor
Cookbook. FalconGuides, 2008.
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Forgey M.D., William W. Basic
Essentials Wilderness First Aid,
3rd ed. FalconGuides, 2007.
Gorman, Stephen. The Winter Camping
Handbook, Countryman Press, 2016.
Graham, John. Outdoor Leadership:
Technique, Common Sense &
Self-Confidence. Mountaineers
Books, 1997.
Hampton, Bruce, and David Cole.
Soft Paths: How to Enjoy the
Wilderness Without Harming It,
3rd ed. Stackpole Books, 2003.
Harmon, Will. Leave No Trace:
Minimum Impact Outdoor
Recreation. Falcon, 1997.
Hart, John. Walking Softly in the
Wilderness: The Sierra Club Guide to
Backpacking, 4th ed. Sierra Club
Books, 2005.
Harvey, Mark. The National Outdoor
Leadership Schools Wilderness
Guide: The Classic Handbook.
Fireside, 1999.
Herow, William C. National Park
Service Camping Guide, 5th ed.
Roundabout Publications, 2012.
Jacobson, Cliff. Basic Illustrated Map
and Compass, Basic Essentials
Series. FalconGuides, 2008.

Marrone, Teresa. The Back-Country
Kitchen: Camp Cooking for
Canoeists, Hikers and Anglers.
Northern Trails Press, 1997.
McGivney, Annette. Leave No Trace:
A Guide to the New Wilderness
Etiquette, 2nd ed. Mountaineers
Books, 2003.
National Museum of Forest Service
History. Camp Cooking: 100 Years.
Gibbs-Smith, 2004.
Oswald, Michael Joseph. Your Guide to
the National Parks: The Complete
Guide to All 58 National Parks.
Stone Road Press, 2012.
Pearson, Claudia. NOLS Backcountry
Cooking: Creative Menu Planning for
Short Trips. Stackpole Books, 2008.
, editor. NOLS (National Outdoor
Leadership School) Cookery, 6th ed.
Stackpole Books, 2012.
Randall, Glenn. Outward Bound
Backpackers Handbook, 3rd ed.
FalconGuides, 2013.
Viehman, John, editor. Trailsides Hints
and Tips for Outdoor Adventure.
Rodale Press, 1993.
Wright, Micah. Camping With the Corps
of Engineers: The Complete Guide to
Campgrounds Built and Operated by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 8th
ed. Cottage Publications, 2012.
Organizations and Websites
Your local library, state parks, and
state conservation lands may also
serve as good resources for camping
in your area.
.Camping Resources
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Office of Public Affairs
1849 C St., Room 5665
Washington, DC 20240
Telephone: 202-208-3801
Website: http://www.blm.gov
Florida National High Adventure
Sea Base
P.O. Box 1906
Islamorada, FL 33036
Telephone: 305-664-4173
Website: http://www.bsaseabase.org
National Park Service
Website: http://www.nps.gov
Northern Tier National High
Adventure Base
P.O. Box 509
Ely, MN 55731
Telephone: 218-365-4811
Website: http://www.ntier.org
Philmont Scout Ranch
17 Deer Run Road
Cimarron, NM 87714
Telephone: 575-376-2281
Website:
http://www.philmontscoutranch.org
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20240-0001
Toll-free telephone: 800-344-9453
Website: http://www.fws.gov
USDA Forest Service
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20250-1111
Toll-free telephone: 800-832-1355
Website: http://www.fs.fed.us
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